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The three ODIs will be played on February 22, 25 and 28 while the three-T20I series is set to begin on March 4

Annesha Ghosh14-Jan-2019England women are set to tour India for the second time in less than a year for three ODIs and three T20Is. The ODIs will contribute points towards the ICC Women’s Championship in the second cycle.

England tour of India

• 50-over warm-up v Board President’s XI: February 18

• Three ODIs: February 22, 25 and 28

• Three T20Is: March 4, 7 and 9

ESPNcricinfo understands the T20I series, which is set to begin on March 4*, will played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The venue has hosted ever only one ODI and one T20I – both men’s matches. The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, will host the three ODIs, which will be played on February 22, 25 and 28. While the ODIs will begin at 9am IST, the three T20Is will start at 10am.ALSO READ: ‘We have moved on’ – Raj on row with KaurBarsapara hosting the three T20Is will also mark the return of women’s international cricket to Assam after more than 13 years. England were the visitors then, too, although it wasn’t a happy one, bowled out for 50 in a 10-wicket defeat. The first women’s international to be held in Assam also featured an England side that lost to India by seven runs in a low-scoring game in 1995.England, the reigning 50-over World Cup champions and currently the No. 2-ranked ODI side behind Australia, last toured India in March 2018 for a T20I tri-series in Mumbai, where they finished runners-up to Australia. In the three subsequent ODIs that took place in Nagpur, India came up trumps 2-1.The teams last met each other in the World T20 semi-final, in the Caribbean last November. India were knocked out in a one-sided affair but England came up short against Australia in the final.The ODI series against England will follow India’s first tour of New Zealand in nearly 13 years – and the first under new coach WV Raman – where they will contest three ODIs and three T20Is.*1pm GMT – The dates for the T20I series were updated after BCCI’s announcement on January 17

A round-up of the Group B matches from the opening day of the Ranji Trophy season

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2017Cheteshwar Pujara contributed only 35 while Robin Uthappa, in his first match for Saurashtra, was dismissed for 7 as Haryana’s seamers dominated in Lahli. Fifties from Prerak Mankad and Sheldon Jackson helped Saurashtra recover to 271 for 7.Ashish Hooda was the most successful seamer for Haryana with 4 for 59, which included the wickets of Pujara and Uthappa. His strikes in the middle overs left Saurashtra at 104 for 4, after they were 76 for 1 at one stage. Jackson contributed 51 off 59 balls and his wicket left Saurashtra at 150 for 5, but Mankad combined with Chirag Jani (45) to add another 105 runs for the sixth wicket to help Saurashtra fight back. While Mankad was dismissed for a 115-ball 68, Jani fell on the last ball of the day for 45. Five Saurashtra batsmen scored more than 35, but none of them could convert their starts into bigger innings.Robin Bist anchored Rajasthan’s batting on the opening day of theGroup B match against Jammu & Kashmir in Jaipur with his 13th first-class hundred. He was assisted by fifties from opener Amitkumar Gautam and Ashok Menaria, who scored 51 and 69 respectively. Bist remained unbeaten on 105, smashing 17 fours on the day, at a strike rate of a little under 50.Bist came in to bat at the fall of Dishant Yagnik’s wicket in the 14th over and went on to add 73 runs for the second wicket with Gautam. The duo batted out more than 30 overs before Gautam was bowled by pacer Mohammed Mudhasir soon after reaching his fifty. Menaria then joined Bist to add a further 137 runs for the third wicket to set the side on track for a big first-innings total.Towards the end of the day, however, offspinner and J&K captain Parvez Rasool bowled Menaria for 69, and then held on to a catch to dismiss Mahipal Lomror, helping J&K finish the day with four wickets. Mudhasir had returns of 3 for 66 in his 25 overs.Allrounder Jalaj Saxena led Kerala’s charge against Jharkhand in Thiruvananthapuram, with his 13th first-class five-for to leave the visitors at a weak 200 for 9.Jharkhand opted to bat but their opener Babul Kumar was out for a duck in the day’s third over before Saxena’s left-arm spin cut through Jharkhand’s top order, taking three wickets in a nine-over period to leave Jharkhand at 48 for 4. Saurabh Tiwary (22) then added 52 runs for the fifth wicket with Ishan Kishan before ending up as Saxena’s fourth victim of the day, ensuring that Saxena had accounted for four of Jharkhand’s top five batsmen. Kaushal Singh (24) and Ashish Kumar (25) resisted briefly but Saxena removed both batsmen after they got useful starts.Sandeep Warrier and left-arm spinners Karaparambil Monish and Akshay Chandran shared the other three wickets.

As new faces arrive to freshen up the squad for the ODI series, Australia will hope whatever combination they go with can put the Test fiasco behind and make a fresh start

Brydon Coverdale20-Aug-2016A change of clothing, a change of ball, a change of format, a change of personnel. A change of fortune? Australia would certainly hope so. After the humiliation of the No. 1 Test side in the world being whitewashed by the No. 7, Steven Smith’s men are now searching for a win – any old win – to restore a little bit of self-confidence. There are two pieces of good news for Australia that will encourage them ahead of this five-match ODI series.One: Rangana Herath is not playing. The man who claimed 28 wickets in the Test series retired from ODIs earlier this year. Two: the Australians might find the pitches for the ODI series a little more to their liking. Of course, it should be noted that there was nothing wrong with the Test pitches. But surfaces designed for 50-over matches and plenty of entertainment – those will suit Australia more.Just as in the Tests, Australia enter this series as No. 1 in the world – the difference is that their lead is so sufficient that even a total disaster will not see them drop from the top spot. A change of personnel will bring some freshness to the group. From outside the Test squad come James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Adam Zampa, George Bailey, Travis Head and Matthew Wade.Still, that leaves nine members of the ODI party who must shake off the disappointments of the past month and find fresh spark in the shorter format. Along with Smith, and his deputy David Warner, there is Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Moises Henriques. Mitchell Marsh was originally named in the squad, but has been sent home to rest.”No matter where you play, if you’re not winning, things are going to be a little bit flat,” Faulkner said in Colombo on the eve of the first ODI. “But we’ve got some new faces, and I’m one of them, that come into the group and bring some energy and some excitement for the five games and the two T20s after that.”Faulkner is, at least, certain to play the first match, after being dropped at the end of the ODI tri-series in the Caribbean in June. But what the rest of Australia’s XI will look like remains a mystery. The axing of Glenn Maxwell, Australia’s reigning ODI cricketer of the year, alters the balance of the side, while the return of Warner from injury and the inclusion of Shaun Marsh create a top-order glut.The likelihood is that Warner and Finch will open, and it would take a brave selector to leave Marsh out, given the form he displayed in the Colombo Test. That might in turn make it hard to find room for Khawaja, who was second only to Smith on Australia’s run charts in the West Indies tri-series. But the dropping of Maxwell from not only the XI but the wider squad shows that almost nobody is safe.”Besides the skipper, no one else is really guaranteed a spot in the side,” Finch told reporters in Colombo on Friday. “You have to be performing all the time. You just have to keep getting the business done, and if you don’t, there’s always someone breathing down your neck for your spot.”When you’ve got young guys performing well, Travis Head to go to England and get 175 [for Yorkshire] and play well in the last domestic one-day summer, there’s always someone breathing down your neck. So you have to be performing all the time, or have a real lot of credits in the bank.”One player with almost unlimited credits in the bank is Starc, the Player of the Tournament in last year’s World Cup and arguably the most dangerous wielder of a white ball at pace in the world right now. Not only that, but Starc is coming off the sort of Test series that would seem fanciful for a fast bowler in Asia: 24 wickets at 15.16, a wicket every 26 balls. The only question is whether the selectors may wish to rest Starc at some point during the ODI series.The other query around Australia’s attack is whether they will opt for one or two spinners. The young legspinner Zampa has shown remarkable poise during his first year as an international cricketer and is coming off an outstanding Caribbean Premier League season. He should be the starting spinner, ahead of Lyon, who in any case could use a break after sending down 154 overs in the Test series, the most for any bowler from either side.Whatever side Australia’s selectors come up with, at least they can view this change of format as a fresh start.

Surrey made a convincing start to their Royal London Cup campaign with an emphatic 220-run victory against Northamptonshire at the Kia Oval, powered by a thunderous 74-ball hundred from Jason Roy

ECB/PA27-Jul-2015
ScorecardJason Roy reached a hundred off 74 balls•PA Photos

Surrey made a convincing start to their Royal London Cup campaign with an emphatic 220-run victory against Northamptonshire at the Kia Oval, powered by a thunderous 74-ball hundred from Jason Roy.They scored 343 for 5 and then dismissed Northamptonshire for 123 in 24 overs. At one stage the Steelbacks were 61 for 8 – and looking unlikely to surpass Roy’s final score between them – before the last two wickets more than doubled the score.At one point Surrey, who won the toss, looked capable of scoring many more runs than they did. Their best scoring rate was 8.4 an over, when they were 168 without loss after 20.That dipped slightly, but even when they were 195 for 1, at the halfway point of their innings, it seemed certain they would top 400. But their batsmen found life more difficult once Northamptonshire brought on their spinners.The opening partnership of 195 between Roy and Steven Davies, equalled the record for the first wicket against the Steelbacks in List A matches, Adam Lyth and Alex Lees having put on the same score for Yorkshire at Northampton last year.Roy was dropped twice, a difficult chance to Rob Keogh at point off the bowling of David Willey when he was on 23 and, when he had made 87, by Graeme White at deep midwicket, a skier off the bowling of Josh Cobb.But apart from those blemishes it was a fluent and impressive innings, with shots all round the wicket. He hit 15 fours and a majestic six over extra-cover off Mohammad Azharullah.But once he was out, caught at short midwicket, the scoring rate dropped, even though Kumar Sangakkara made a sprightly 37 from 38 deliveries. He was second out at 251 in the 35th over and two over later Davies was dismissed for 99 from 99 balls.Against tight bowling from White, Cobb and Keogh, Surrey’s scoring slowed further while Gary Wilson and Ben Foakes were at the wicket, before a late slog from Zafar Ansari and James Burke.The Steelbacks made an awful start when Richard Levi was bowled first ball by Jade Dernbach, and they did not recover.They were 6 for 2 in the third over, when Cobb was caught behind off the same bowler, and then 11 for three in the sixth when Alex Wakely was also caught at the wicket off Sam Curran.Curran, just 17 and the younger brother of team-mate Tom, made an eye-catching debut in this form of the game, and his left-arm pace brought him 4 for 32 in front of England selector Angus Fraser.Adam Rossington fell to a Curran combination and Northamptonshire’s first four batsmen had scored eight runs between them. Only some late hitting by wicketkeeper Ben Duckett, who hit five fours and two sixes in a 45-ball 56, enabled his team to reach three figures.

An unbeaten 61 from Michael Lumb on the back of a polished bowling display has given Sydney Sixers a sliver of hope of defending their title

The Report by Alex Malcolm07-Jan-2013
ScorecardSteve O’Keefe took 3 for 21•Getty Images

An unbeaten 61 from Michael Lumb on the back of a polished bowling display has given Sydney Sixers a sliver of hope of defending their title.Brisbane Heat entered the match as the only side with anything to play for. A win would have catapulted them into the top four with one round remaining but they instead, they produced their worst performance of the tournament after winning the toss and electing to bat.James Hopes set his side back early, playing out a maiden from the Sri Lankan offspinner Sachithra Senanayake. Senanayake, with only nine international caps to his name, proved a weapon in his first match for the Sixers. Although he went wicketless, his four overs cost just 19 and his maiden piled enormous pressure on Hopes, who holed out to Steve O’Keefe the following over.Joe Burns joined Luke Pomersbach and although the pair put together 48, the 43 balls it took put pressure on Heat.Josh Hazlewood made an impressive return from injury to remove Burns in his second over. It was the first of three scalps for Hazlewood, who remains firmly in the gaze of the national selectors. It also triggered a collapse from the home side. Heat lost four wickets in 19 balls, all to strokes aimed at clearing the rope to lift the sinking run-rate.Five wickets become six when the promoted Ben Cutting gifted Brad Haddin a simple stumping and O’Keefe his third victim, and the total was still shy of three figures with just three overs remaining. Cameos from Peter Forrest and Nathan Hauritz ensured that the Sixers needed in excess of a run-a-ball for victory.Lumb and Brad Haddin resumed their opening combination that proved so successful in the Champions League to get the Sydney side off to a brisk start. Haddin looked in ominous touch with two sweetly struck boundaries and a six before chopping on to Alistair McDermott.Lumb then had to drop anchor as he watched both Nic Maddinson and Moises Henriques waste promising starts. Lumb had some luck too when he skied a ball from Hopes over short third man. Kemar Roach made exceptional ground and looked to have pouched it, only to stumble and propel the ball away to the rope for four.Steve Smith top-edged a bizarre overhead smash to mid-on next ball to leave the Sixers needing 29 runs from 29 deliveries. Daniel Hughes was also bounced out to make the equation a nervy 17 from 14. But Lumb stood tall and cracked Dan Christian over the midwicket fence to both ease the tension and raise his half-century.He would strike the winning runs powerfully through midwicket the following over to see his side home with six balls to spare.

A selection of the leading Associate and Affiliate players will get their chance to compete against the No. 1 Test team in the world next month

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2011A selection of the leading Associate and Affiliate players, led by Ireland captain William Porterfield, will get their chance to compete against England, the No. 1 Test team in the world, next month after it was confirmed they will form part of England’s preparations for the Test series against Pakistan in the UAE.The team, which will be under the banner of an ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate (AM) XI, will face England from January 7-9 at the Global Cricket Academy in Dubai where players from countries below Test level regularly make use of the facilities for training. The team includes three Afghanistan players – pace bowler Hamid Hassan, allrounder Mohammad Nabi and batsman Mohammad Shahzad – while Porterfield is joined by Ireland team-mates Boyd Rankin and George Dockrell.

ICC Combined AM XI

• William Porterfield (captain, Ireland), Saqib Ali (UAE), Kyle Coetzer (Scotland), George Dockrell (Ireland), Majid Haq (Scotland), Hamid Hassan (Afghanistan), Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), Boyd Rankin (Ireland), Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan), Paul Stirling (Ireland), Christi Viljoen (Namibia) and Craig Williams (Namibia)

Rankin has been part of the England Lions set up, and is currently at a fast-bowling camp in Potchefstroom, while Dockrell, the left-arm spinner who plays for Somerset, is also on the England radar after making an impressive start to his Ireland career. Porterfield, Rankin and Dockrell were all involved in the famous World Cup match in Bangalore when Ireland beat England.”It will be a great honour for me to lead out the Associate and Affiliate team against the No. 1 team in the longer format of the game,” Porterfield said. “If you look through their squad they are full of world-class cricketers and it will be a great test for us against whatever XI they put out.”Another challenge we face is coming together as a group ourselves; we have played against each other a few times but we will have to gel pretty quickly in the few days preparation we have in order to put in a good performance. As this is such a great chance for all the individuals to showcase their talent against the No. 1 Test team in the world, I do not see this being an issue at all.”Staging the series in the UAE, which is Pakistan’s ‘home’ venue while they can’t play in their own country, has created the issue of finding suitable warm-up opposition for England. The second game ahead of the Test series will see England face a Pakistan Board XI from January 11-13.Pakistan, meanwhile, will prepare for the one-day series in February with a one-day international against Afghanistan. England will face their own Lions squad as they did on their previous visit to the UAE in 2010 when they played two Twenty20s against Pakistan. On that occasion the Lions beat the full team and the match saw the emergence of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter as the opening partnership that played in the World Twenty20 in West Indies.The first of three Tests starts in Dubai on January 17 and the tour also includes four one-day internationals and three Twenty20s.

Misbah-ul-Haq quelled a threatening spell of reverse swing early on the third morning, before dictating terms against New Zealand’s seamers who wasted the second new ball, to drive Pakistan to a 20-run lead as the winds subsided for the first time at the

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar17-Jan-2011
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYounis Khan was in fine touch before being undone by a poor umpiring call•Getty Images

Misbah-ul-Haq quelled a threatening spell of reverse swing early on the third morning, before dictating terms against New Zealand’s seamers, to drive Pakistan to a 20-run lead as the wind subsided for the first time at the Basin Reserve. Pakistan’s progress was based on Misbah’s 142-run stand with Younis Khan, during which New Zealand’s attack seemed to have run out of ideas. Younis’ exit for 73 – the seventh umpiring error in the match, without counting missed no-balls – sparked a resurgence from the home side. After tea, they attacked with Daniel Vettori’s turn and Chris Martin’s bounce to skittle out Pakistan’s lower half for the addition of just 52, including Misbah on 99. New Zealand’s openers played out the last five overs of the day without damage to leave the game even at stumps.Before their inspired burst in the final session, New Zealand were surprisingly subdued through the day, barring a lively opening burst from Martin. He began with a swerving bouncer that started well outside off before darting in viciously towards Azhar Ali who had to weave away and drop his wrists. Martin followed that up with a series of reverse-swingers before outwitting Azhar with another sharp lifter that was fended into the slips. Younis and Misbah also began edgily against the movement before easing into business with a series of sparkling drives as the sun came out and Martin began to lose his sting.The ball, deemed to be out of shape, was replaced at the stroke of the first hour and reverse swing immediately became conspicuous by its absence. With the pitch not taking much turn, Misbah handled Vettori’s drift by lunging forward instead of across and defending from inside the line. New Zealand’s main variations had been nullified, and thereafter they were asking to be dominated.Younis cashed in against a flagging attack, punching a short delivery from Tim Southee square and driving one that was too straight through wide long-on for boundaries. Misbah attacked his opposite number in the lead-up to lunch, pulling out a slog sweep and a lofted on-drive as Pakistan moved past 200.Soon after the break, Brent Arnel opened with the second new ball, running in for a friendly over that underlined New Zealand’s lack of intent: it began with a wayward loosener outside off, and included a misdirected bouncer down the leg side. In his second over, Misbah guided Arnel twice through the cordon for boundaries. Martin replaced Arnel and got his inswingers going, but the horse had bolted by then. Younis punched Martin twice down the ground, the first bringing up his half-century and the second, the 100-run stand.Southee put in a solid effort from the other end, and got the odd legcutter to nip away from the right-handers. Despite being beaten on a couple of occasions, Misbah had the presence of mind to play with soft hands, and his obduracy frustrated Southee who got into a verbal duel with him. Misbah responded with two calmly stroked boundaries through the covers to bring up his fifth successive half-century, and his fifth in six innings since taking over as captain.Vettori was running out of ideas, and brought James Franklin on, seemingly with the intention of creating a rough to work with. Franklin promptly got a warning for running on the pitch, but Vettori began to pose some riddles from the other end. He eventually got past Younis, thanks to drift and a poor call from umpire Rod Tucker, caught close-in on the leg side straight off the pad.Younis’ exit prompted Vettori to finally go on the attack, and he looped them into the rough with extra fielders crouching close in. Asad Shafiq edged his fifth ball as it ripped away from middle and leg, taking the outside edge on its way into the slips. Vettori also had Adnan Akmal in strife with well-disguised arm-balls before getting him to top-edge a sweep.Martin stepped up to support his captain, and bullied Abdur Rehman into submission with bounce, with Pakistan still 22 behind. While Umar Gul biffed Pakistan into the lead with a series of middled pulls and slog-sweeps, Misbah chugged along towards a hundred that seemed almost inevitable.He negated Martin’s bounce by staying in the crease, and capitalised when there was width to pick up boundaries through the off side. With Misbah a run away from his third Test ton, Martin landed a couple of balls well outside off before cleverly slanting one back in, to rap him on the move as he shuffled across with an eye on the leg side. The innings ended soon after, Vettori finishing a wicket shy of becoming only the second New Zealander to make a century and pick a five-for in the same match. Both captains had had a say in setting up the game for a virtual second-innings shoot-out with two days left.

A round-up of the action from round seven of the 2009-10 New Zealand Cricket one-day competition

Cricinfo staff03-Feb-2010Newly-crowned Twenty20 champions Central Districts crushed Canterbury by eight wickets in New Plymouth. Canterbury were dismissed for 77 in just 32.4 overs as CD’s fast bowlers Michael Mason and Ewen Thompson used the overcast conditions to their advantage. CD then overhauled the target in the 15th over to collect the bonus point. Canterbury struggled to cope with Thompson as he picked up 6 for 20. His first victim was opener Michael Papps, who fell without scoring off the fifth ball of the innings. Thompson went on to claim two middle-order wickets and then cleaned up the tail, going past 100 one-day wickets on the way. Rob Nicol, Johann Myburgh and Shannan Stewart were the only Canterbury batsmen to reach double figures. Jamie How scored a near run-a-ball 46, including nine boundaries, to steer CD home despite the early loss of George Worker for a duck.Kane Williamson scored an unbeaten century as Northern Districts cruised to a seven-wicket win against Wellington at the Basin Reserve. Wellington, who were invited to bat, managed 216 with half-centuries from wicketkeeper Chris Nevin and allrounder Luke Woodcock. ND overhauled the target in 33 overs. They lost their first wicket when Anton Devcich departed for a duck in the second over as Mark Gillespie celebrated his return to provincial action from a 13-month injury break. But BJ Watling and Williamson revelled in perfect batting conditions to deny Wellington any further inroads with a 145-run partnership for the second wicket. Watling was bowled by Harry Boam for 50 and Gillespie snapped up Michael Parlane an over later to have the visitors at 147 for 3. However, Daniel Flynn then held firm with 45 not out and together with Williamson (108 not out) saw them through.Tim McIntosh smashed his maiden one-day hundred to help Auckland to a convincing 84-run win over Otago in Oamaru. McIntosh’s fluent 138 laid the platform for Auckland’s huge 362 for 5, a total which proved too steep for Otago despite an unbeaten 110 from Yasir Arafat. Otago finished on 278 in the 47th over after Arafat and Greg Todd resurrected their hopes from 79 for 6. Arafat’s defiant hand left him unbeaten on 110 off only 81 deliveries, including 13 fours and three sixes. Once Auckland chose to bat, McIntosh struck 16 fours and three sixes during his 127-ball stay, and shared a second wicket stand of 194 with Reece Young (94), before Scott Styris upped the tempo with a blistering 55 off 23 balls.

Captain says the league will help players fine-tune their game and improve their fitness in the free window after the tournament

Vishal Dikshit05-Feb-2025India captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes the upcoming WPL will “play a very big role” in the lead up to the home ODI World Cup later this year, as the T20 league will help the India players fine-tune their game and “raise” their fitness levels in the free window after the tournament. This year’s World Cup will be the first time Harmanpreet will lead India in the 50-over tournament.The five-team WPL will run from February 14 to March 15 across four cities in India for 20 league matches and two knockout games. The India players will then have a gap of over three months before they head to England for five T20Is and three ODIs. They will then have another gap for nearly two months. As per the FTP, their next assignment will be of three homes ODIs against world champions Australia in late September and then the 50-over World Cup at home in October.Related

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Some of the India players are nursing injuries and could also use the WPL to regain and prove their match fitness.”I think this WPL is going to play a very big role because this year we have ODI World Cup,” Harmanpreet said at a press conference in Mumbai. “After the WPL, we have a very good window where we can work on our fitness and raise our fitness level. I think that gap will really help us to work really hard on ourselves.”India had failed to make the semi-finals in the last ODI World Cup, in early 2022 in New Zealand, under the captaincy of Mithali Raj.Harmanpreet was asked about India’s busy schedule at the turn of the year when they played back-to-back series against Australia (away), West Indies (home), and Ireland (home) and if that might have played a role in players having to manage their workload.Harmanpreet herself sat out of two of the three T20Is against West Indies followed by the three ODIs against Ireland. India also played all those series, after the T20 World Cup, without the injured Pooja Vastrakar whose fitness is being monitored by Mumbai Indians for her participation in the WPL. Some other players such as Yastika Bhatia, Shreyanka Patil and Priya Punia had also missed the West Indies games in December because of injuries, and have not played since then. Like Harmanpreet, India had also rested their lead fast bowler Renuka Singh for the Ireland ODIs last month.”See, as a cricketer, we really want our schedule to be packed and injuries are something which is part of the game and sometimes these are not under your control,” Harmanpreet said. “But as a cricketer, we don’t want to miss any tournament. But really happy [with] the way we are getting our schedule really packed and playing back-to-back cricket and that is something as a player, as a captain I’m enjoying. And good to see the last series went really well.”A few young players got opportunity and they did really well, played very impressive cricket. This season and this year is going to be very exciting because [of the] home World Cup and then we have really exciting cricket in front of us after the WPL. Hopefully we gel well as a team and do what a team requires and play some good cricket.”

Being overlooked for central contract left retiring bowler feeling like “a third wheel” on tournament eve

Matt Roller11-Nov-20233:29

Harmison: England squad for WI will have fresh faces

David Willey signed off from his international career by taking his 100th ODI wicket in England’s win over Pakistan in Kolkata – then revealed he had considered pulling out of the World Cup as late as the day that the team flew to India at the end of September.Willey announced before England’s defeat to Australia in Ahmedabad last week that he would quit international cricket after this tournament at the age of 33. He was told in September that he had not been offered a central contract for 2023-24, then learned that he was the only member of the World Cup squad without an offer.He was incensed, and soon decided that he was no longer interested in feeling like “a third wheel” as a fringe player. He said that constant uncertainty over his schedule had taken its toll on him, his wife and their two children, and has therefore opted to “take control”.Related

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Willey started the World Cup running the drinks for England but replaced Sam Curran for their fourth match, a 229-run loss to South Africa in Mumbai, and has played every game since. He finished the tournament with 11 wickets at 23.54, second only to Adil Rashid in England’s squad, and signed off with 3 for 56 in his 10 overs.”It was mixed emotions,” Willey said. “My time is done… but it’s with deep regret. Anybody looking in has probably looked at the way I’ve gone about my business and [seen that I am] probably playing the best cricket of my career. I’m 33, as fit as I’ve ever been.”One of the reasons that I wasn’t offered a contract was them going in a different direction after the World Cup – I don’t know why [they are]. It’s been a period for some time now… not knowing quite where I stand with England and it’s just taken its toll, and becomes very tiring.”David Willey was Player of the Match in his international swansong•AFP/Getty Images

Willey believes he would have been able to play a valuable role for England at the T20 World Cup next June, had he been offered a contract. “[If there is] an injury or two, they’re going to be calling on someone with very little to no experience in World Cups,” he said.”Never say never, but right now, I’m very confident [in] my decision that today was my last game of cricket for England. Do I want to go to the Caribbean and run drinks, and not know where I stand, and just feel like a third wheel again – which is very much what I felt like when I turned up at Lord’s, being the only one without a contract? Probably not, so I’m done.”Willey said he had doubts over whether he should travel to India after learning that he was the only squad member without a central contract: “I wasn’t sure whether I was going to come to the World Cup, even to the 11th hour. The morning that we were joining up at Lord’s, I still wasn’t sure whether I’d make the trip or not.”He added: “From then on, it [retirement] was something that was on my mind. It’s not just that I haven’t been offered a contract; it’s how I feel valued as an England player, when I look down that list of other guys that have got contracts… I came to the decision that the time was right for me to call it a day.”Willey removed both Pakistan openers – Abdullah Shafique and Fakhar Zaman – in his new-ball spell on Saturday, then returned to have Agha Salman caught at mid-on to become the 15th Englishman to reach 100 ODI wickets. He also became the second England men’s player after Alastair Cook to win the Player of the Match award in his final international appearance.”On the phone to my wife this morning, she said, ‘Go on – just get to 100 wickets. It’d be a nice way to finish,'” he said. “To do that was a nice way for me personally [to sign off].”He said he wanted to leave international cricket on his own terms, and hoped that he had proved Rob Key – who, as managing director, was ultimately responsible for central contract offers – wrong. “Keysy said to me, ‘I hope you can prove me wrong.’ Maybe I’ve done it over the last few games,” Willey said.”The timing [of his retirement announcement], people may have looked at it and frowned upon my timing there. But for me personally, there’s not many opportunities you get to walk away from [international] cricket on your terms, and I wanted to really enjoy my last three games of cricket [for England] and play without looking over my shoulder, thinking, ‘One bad performance and I’m out of the side.'”Willey will continue to play domestic and franchise cricket. He captains Northamptonshire in the T20 Blast and has a contract with Abu Dhabi Knight Riders for the ILT20 in January-February. He is also likely to be retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, and by Welsh Fire in the Hundred.